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This is the list of 11 deadliest dog breeds in the world, based on a study done by CDC, listing all dog bite fatalities in the US from 1979 to 1998. The statistics present fatal dog attacks where the breed has been positively identified. For the purpose of this text, we grouped pure breeds and mix dogs where at least one breed is identified together. So, all Rottweiler mixes were grouped under Rottweiler. A mix of a Doberman, Rottweiler, and American Pit bull was counted once under all three breeds.

Now, before we continue, there’s one important caveat to consider. This list of deadliest dog breeds in the world doesn’t show that some breeds are more prone to attacking people than others. Every dog will attack if sufficiently provoked. The dog breeds on top of our list are there because of two reasons. First, they are big dogs with powerful bites and as such are prone to cause far more damage than, say a Pomeranian. But even Pomeranians can be killers. In 2000, a Pomeranian killed an 18-month baby left alone with the dog.

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The second reason is the human factor. Nobody breeds or trains a Pomeranian for dog fights. People who get their kicks out of watching animals get hurt usually go for specific breeds (hint: take a look at the top three breeds on our list). For every story about a Pitbull or German shepherd or Rottweiler killing somebody, there are hundreds of stories about those same breeds being loving family pets. YouTube is full of videos of cute Pit bulls playing with kids. So why are some of them aggressive, dangerous and deadly? The answer is simple, their owners made them that way. Either through intention or neglect, these dogs are suffering the consequences of their owners’ actions.

According to the study of the epidemiology of fatal dog bites published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are several most common factors present in dog bite fatalities. Almost all, if not all of them, are caused by either owner or the victim. These include, among others: compromised ability of victims to interact appropriately with dogs (e.g. mental disabilities), dogs kept isolated from regular positive human interactions versus family dogs, no familiar relationship of victims with dogs, owners’ failure to neuter dogs, owners’ prior mismanagement of dogs, and owners’ history of abuse or neglect of dogs.

To better illustrate that fact, none of the dogs on the list of most expensive dog breeds to maintain are listed here. Those are the breeds that are pampered and provided with a loving home, hardly an environment that breeds killers. Now compare that to some of the Animal Channel documentaries that show how cruel people can be to their pets and you’ll see why we even have the list of deadliest dog breeds in the world.